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What is everyone's opinion on Gorsuch? In the news article I read they said he's fairly skeptical of jaw enforcement (good in my opinion) and he likely won't change anything on the issues of abortion or gay marriage (also good in my opinion). Even if he is interested in overturning Roe v. Wade, we still have good ol' Kennedy on the court to block it.


Edit: Ok, so just in case some of you get on my ass about it, Abortion, gay marriage, and law enforcement are most definitely not the only important issues out there, but a lot of people voted for Trump just so he can put someone on the court to overturn Roe v Wade (*cough* evangelicals *cough*) so that's why I brought those up specifically.

I read this CNN article that talks about how essentially Gorsuch thinks the judicial branch should have the power to determine the interpretation of unclear laws instead of the current "Chevron doctrine" which states that the agency (and thus executive branch) determines the interpretation. That's quite a bit of power the Supreme Court would be taking away from the President, which is surprising considering what Trump's plans are. Then again, this could just be a peak at the less conservative "real Trump" people talk about who's trying to cut off his own hands so that he can't fulfill his campaign promises. Who knows. But Gorsuch is definitely not the most conservative judge he could've nominated and that would've gotten accepted by the Republican Congress.

Nice read, Gerrick. I was expecting Trump to choose Bill Pryor.

If I remember correctly, Trump's list of potential Supreme Court picks was put together by the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups, so it's not surprising that any selection would be a traditional conservative. Considering that he's going to replace Antonin Scalia, this pick wasn't going to change the makeup of the court anyways. It'll be real interesting if a liberal justice retires or dies in the next two years though...I'm sure Republicans will jump at the chance to alter the direction of the court to their liking.

I will admit I'm hoping RBG holds on until Drumpf is out. I shudder to think what kind of rulings we'd be forced to deal with if another Scaliaite were to be placed upon the bench.

It doesn't necessarily have to be until Trump is out, just until Democrats have better footing in the Senate.

You raise a valid point. Certainly if the Democrats can reclaim the Senate in the midterm elections they could block someone unfavorable. But I doubt that the Donald is going to field anyone decent during his term.

True, but at least Democrats can Merrick Garland the whole thing.

I'd hate to see them stoop to that level though.

I have a good feeling the Dems will take the senate back in the midterms.

One can certainly hope.

I'm rather pessimistic about possibility of a blue midterm Senate. The Republicans only have 8 seats up for reelection, only 2 of which are in battleground states. On the other hand, the Democrats have 25 seats to defend (including 2 independents who caucus with the them). With so many states flipping over to the Republicans in the 2016 elections, I think it'd be a small miracle for the Democrats to keep their current 48 seats, let alone gain a majority in the Senate.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/senate-democrats-2018-midterms-231516

That's certainly unfortunate news. Personally, I'm hoping that in the two years coming Trump will sour people's idea of the GOP. Make it hard for folks to vote red. Im sure, given his first week, that the president will crash and burn. And when he does I'm hoping he takes his party down with him. Not only that but a lot of what's on the Republican agenda is going to hurt those people that voted the tumpa lumpa in.

I actually don't read so much into the 2016 election...I don't think Trump's election is the start of a movement that's going to change the political landscape, it's just the reaction to Hillary Clinton being such a bad candidate. Most of the states Democrats are defending are at least states they have a decent chance of winning at, and there's the chance they could pick up two Republican seats, so I'm optimistic.

Traditionally, midterm elections are very good for the opposition party. And besides, it was supposed to be impossible for Republicans to maintain control of the Senate last election cause they were defending so many seats in Obama states.

And that doesn't take into account Trump himself or the infighting between establishment Republicans and tea-party Republicans. There may be a honeymoon for now between them all because they won, but if things start going wrong or Trump starts going too far for either group of Republicans the issues between them aren't far beneath the surface.

The problem is that the electoral map simply does not favor the Democrats:


To gain 50% in the Senate, the Dems have to not only take Arizona (a traditionally red state) and Nevada (where the incumbent is an early favorite to win reelection), but also keep every single one of their current seats, many of which are in red/swing states. Even then, we have VP Mike Pence to break the tie. The odds are simply stacked against them.